Barcelona knew Villa is a great player, says Zubizarreta

The Blaugrana director has insisted that they have no regrets over the departure of the prolific striker and has wished him all the best for the futureBarcelona sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta has insisted that David Villa's performance for Atletico Madrid in the the two sides' 1-1 Supercopa first leg draw did not come as a surprise to the Catalans.

The experienced attacker left Camp Nou for Atleti in the summer transfer window for a fee of just €2.1 million and came back to haunt his old club, scoring a stunning volley to give the capital club the lead on Wednesday.

And Zubizarreta has stressed that they were aware of the striker's quality when they let go of him.

"We all know about David's qualities and his finishing abilities," Zubizarreta was quoted as saying by Sport.

"We knew that we had a great player in David and we wish him all the best at Atletico. He will always have this predatory instinct in front of goal."

Villa netted 48 goals in 116 official appearances for Barcelona between 2010 and 2013.